--- title: "U.S. Army General In Europe Admits “We’re Behind” On Drones" description: "From fielding drone defenses to an American Shahed-136-like capability, and most things in-between, the U.S. is behind, according to a top U.S. Army General in Europe." date: "2025-10-14" modified: "2025-10-14" authors: - name: "Joseph Trevithick" job_title: "Deputy Editor" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/joseph-trevithick.md" - name: "Howard Altman" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/howard-altman.md" url: "https://www.twz.com/land/were-behind-on-drones-army-general-in-europe-admits" categories: - "Air" - "Counter-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (C-UAS)" - "Drones" - "Land" - "News & Features" - "Unmanned" tags: - "AUSA 2025" --- # U.S. Army General In Europe Admits “We’re Behind” On Drones ![U.S. Army Sgt. Hunter Moody, a drone operator assigned to Bravo Company, 2nd Infantry Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, in support of Task Force Pegasus, raises his drone at the Nursipalu Training Area near Camp Taara, Estonia, Nov. 13, 2024. Drone operations are an essential component of modern tactics. Task Force Pegasus’ mission is to engage in multinational training and exercises across the continent, strengthening interoperability with NATO allies and regional security partners, which provides competent and ready forces to V Corps, America’s forward-deployed corps in Europe. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Rose Di Trolio)]() *Staff Sgt. Rose Di Trolio* The U.S. Army continues to lag behind global trends when it comes to fielding drones and systems to counter their use by hostile forces, according to a top general overseeing soldiers in Europe. Units forward-deployed in the European theater are trying to break a cycle of seemingly endless experimentation to actually operationalize relevant capabilities, especially within smaller units, [buoyed now]() by major [U.S. military-wide initiatives](). Army Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, commander of [V Corps](), talked about issues relating to drones and counter-drone capabilities at a panel discussion at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual symposium yesterday. *TWZ*'s Howard Altman was in attendance and had a chance to talk further with Costanza immediately afterward. From World War II through the Cold War, and for years afterward, V Corps was a key component of the Army's presence in Europe. Inactivated in Germany in 2013, it was reestablished at Fort Knox in Kentucky in 2020, and [a forward headquarters in Poland]() was subsequently stood up. ![]() *A soldier assigned to 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which falls under the command of V Corps, launches a quadcopter drone during training. *US Army** "We're behind. I'll just be candid. I think we know we're behind," Costanza said in response to a direct question at the panel from our Howard Altman. "We've been talking about counter-UAS \[uncrewed aerial systems\] and UAS capability for a better part of a decade, since, really, we watched the war in Armenia and Azerbaijan go on, and saw very much the beginning of the drone UAS capabilities." ![]() *A Stryker light armored vehicle fitted with a counter-drone sensor system assigned to 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which falls under V Corps. *US Army** Azerbaijan's armed forces captured particular global [attention with their use of kamikaze drones]() during a [war with Armenia in 2020](). They had already been employing those capabilities on a [more limited level for years beforehand](). The Israeli-made drones they employed traced their roots back decades, and came from companies that continue to be world leaders in this space, as you can read more about [here](). In 2020, Azerbaijan also [employed Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2s](), a traditional fixed-wing design capable of employing precision munitions that has seen significant sales globally, [including to Ukraine](). ***The propaganda video below from the State Border Service of Azerbaijan highlights how much of a fixture kamikaze drones were in the 2020 war between that country and Armenia.*** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS-PsJ9ZvV0&t=2s "We aren't moving fast enough," Costanza continued. "And it really took Russia's invasion of Ukraine \[in 2022\], and [the way they're innovating](), and [Ukrainians are innovating](), to realize, hey, we need to move fast." Both sides of the ongoing conflict now make extensive use of various [types of weaponized drones](), especially [highly maneuverable first-person view (FPV) kamikaze designs](), [in and around the front lines](), and [now increasingly deeper behind them](). [Ukraine]() and [Russia also employ longer-range kamikaze drones]() for attacks further inside each other's territory. Various types of uncrewed aerial systems had already [become steadily more significant factors]() in [the fighting between Ukrainian forces]() and [Russian-backed separatists]() in the eastern part of the country that followed Moscow's seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMXB8RZnYXI https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1691084867839172609 https://twitter.com/frontlinekit/status/1975103324362780802 "I think we do," Costanza also said when asked specifically if the U.S. military needed a capability broadly in line with the Iranian-designed [Shahed-136]() long-range kamikaze drone. The Shahed-136 has become something of a household name as a result of Russia's [heavy use of variants]() and [derivatives](), including [types it now produces domestically](), in attacks on Ukraine. Last month, *TWZ* laid out a detailed case for why the U.S. military should already be buying tens of thousands of Shahed-136 clones, which you can find [here](). ![]() *A view inside a Russian factory producing versions of the Shahed-136 kamikaze drone. Russian Media* As part of his response to the questions from our Howard Altman, Costanza highlighted [Project Flytrap]() as a prime example of efforts underway to try to reverse these trends. Flytrap is an ongoing series of Army-led training events in Europe focused on counter-drone capabilities and tactics, techniques, and procedures to go with them. "I think Flytrap is the start point to that, right? So I think Flytrap is taking the capabilities we have right now, identifying how we layer those capabilities, and then taking that, giving it back to the Army, and saying, here's how you do it now, go make the acquisition purchase," Costanza said. "Flytrap is just really trying to figure out what the systems are that we need. The scope and scale piece goes back to the Army." ![]() *Members of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment aim a counter-drone jammer during a Project Flytrap event. *US Army* Staff Sgt. Christopher Saunders* "What we learned is that there's really no one system solution. It takes a layered approach. And you know, the way to think about it is, you have to detect what's in the air, what's a threat. You have to decide what you're going to do about it, and that you need the means to actually do something about it," Col. Donald Neal, commander of the Army's 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which falls under V Corps, also said yesterday while speaking alongside Costanza. "There's no one system solution to protecting the air above you." A key "challenge has been getting the network straight, being able to have the data in a cloud-based environment that we can process it in a way that's integrated, not just with the counter-UAS systems, but the larger, integrated air and missile defense network, and how we do that. So we're working through that," Costanza further noted. "What we need to do now is take those systems, integrate them with an AI \[artificial intelligence\] capable, data-driven mission command system, \[and\] sync it all together, not just \[for the\] U.S., but across all our NATO partners." The 2nd Cavalry Regiment has been taking a leading role in Project Flytrap, as well as separate but adjacent efforts to step up the fielding of uncrewed aerial systems, including weaponized types, within the service's own formations. ![]() *Stryker light armored vehicles assigned to 2nd Cavalry Regiment seen configured for a Project Flytrap event. *US Army* Sgt. Alejandro Carrasquel* "2nd Cavalry Regiment is standing up what they call Delta Company," Costanza noted during the panel. "It's taking all the different systems that can have effects, lethal, non-lethal – so not just kinetic, but EW \[electronic warfare\] – counter-UAS, \[as well as\] UAS, \[and\] creating one organization to synchronize those capabilities faster than what we're able to do right now." The Army has already been experimenting with similar units, which have been referred to as Strike Companies and Multi-Purpose Companies (MPC) in the past, outside of 2nd Cavalry, which you can read more about [here](). Project Flytrap is also tied in with a NATO-wide initiative announced earlier this year, dubbed the [Eastern Flank Deterrence Line](), to bolster counter-drone and a wide array of other capabilities with a particular eye toward threats emanating from Russia. America's allies in Europe have been [seeing a surge in drone incursions](), including [over sensitive sites](), as Moscow has been [ramping up hybrid war efforts](). "I think Putin feels he's in conflict with NATO right now," Costanza told our Howard Altman in the interview after the panel. "I think he's just going to continue to ramp that up until we stop it, and NATO knows that, but we still haven't done that yet." ![]() *US Army Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, head of V Corps, meets with soldiers. *US Army* Spc. Sar Paw* When it comes to the broader issue of the Army lagging in the fielding of drones and counter-drone systems, Project Flytrap and the other work V Corps is involved in are clearly aimed at operationalizing new capabilities. The Pentagon [has publicly lauded Flytrap]() as an example of the services moving to act on the new direction from the Secretary of War intended to address increasingly worrisome capability and capacity gaps that extend well beyond American forces in Europe. In July, the Pentagon announced a [sweeping array of policy and other changes]() structured around the central goal of getting huge numbers of [drones, including weaponized types](), into the hands of units, especially smaller ones, across the entire U.S. military. In August, [Joint Interagency Task Force 401]() (JIATF 401) stood up as the newest U.S. military organization intended to act as a focal point for the accelerated development and fielding of counter-drone systems for use on the battlefield, as well as to defend facilities and assets within the homeland. At the same time, what Costanza talked about yesterday still sounds very much like the [kinds of test and evaluation efforts]() that have been going on for years already. As he himself acknowledged, much of the work that has been done to date has not translated into major new operational capabilities, even as Ukraine and Russia, and many other countries globally, [particularly China](), have pushed ahead. The Army faced pointed [criticism in July after touting the test]() of a grenade-dropping drone in Europe, a capability that has been in daily use for years now on the battlefield in Ukraine. https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1947436410354700744 https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1947436827818004735 *TWZ* has [been sounding the alarm]() on these issues [for many years now](), well before Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine brought them to more widespread global attention. As [we regularly report](), threats posed by drones are real now and [are not]() limited [to traditional battlefields](), which also [underscores the potential benefits]() that multiple tiers of uncrewed aerial systems could offer in the hands of friendly forces. "We need to move faster," Costanza stressed to our Howard Altman after the panel. "And we all know that." *Contact the author: joe@twz.com* ## Author Joseph is *TWZ’s* Deputy Editor, helping to oversee the site’s highly experienced and dedicated team, while also writing informative and impactful defense and national security content. He lives right in the thick of it in the Washington, D.C. area. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Bluesky]()